This invention relates generally to the generation of electro-magnetic radiation and more particularly to a reflecting electron system which produces coherent high-power, high-frequency, monochromatic microwave pulses from oscillating electrons that are moving at relativistic speeds.
Existing devices that generate microwaves through the use of relativistic electrons are not reflecting electron systems but rather feature an electron beam propagating through a waveguide for some distance and at least one of the following: the application of an external magnetic field parallel to the drifting electron beam; the use of resonant cavities along the waveguide; or the presence of a modulator within the waveguide, such a modulator being either a perturbed magnetic field or corrugated walls of the waveguide. Further limitations of existing microwave generators include their large sizes, which are at least a meter in length, and the fact that in most configurations their emitted microwave pulses are of significantly shorter duration than that of the applied potential to the system. These limitations confine the applications of the existing devices and thereby affect their usefulness.
Recently, reflecting electron systems employing a low-inductance, coaxial reflex triode have been used successfully to produce megavolt proton pulses of peak current in excess of 200 kiloamperes by the creation of an abundant ion flux. The present invention demonstrates that, under suitable conditions, reflecting electron systems can also generate high-power microwaves without the limitations of, but with distinct advantages over, existing microwave generators.